30 October 2008

Mr S Hardwicke Carruthers

Via email ([FOI #3540 email])

Our ref: CS/08/0078/HJP

(Please quote our reference when contacting us)

If telephoning contact Hilary Pook on 020 7217 4734

or if using email send to: [email address]

Dear Mr Hardwicke Carruthers

Request for information

Further to my letter of 28 October, you have asked in your email of 28 October for the data about breaches of Human Rights and equality legislation in relation to local settlements too, plus outside jurisdiction, premature and ombudsman's discretion decisions.

In my previous letter, I gave you instances where issues relating to human rights/equalities legislation had featured in reports where maladministration causing injustice was found. I only referred to cases where this had been a feature of the maladministration found, as you had asked specifically for “occasions [when] the LGO identified that a council has breached equalities legislation and the European Convention of Human Rights”. (I also explained that identifying breaches of legislation is a matter for the courts not the Ombudsman.) If the Ombudsman's decision is that the complaint is outside jurisdiction, premature, or discontinued by `ombudsman's discretion' then no fault has been found, so there will have been nothing identified relating to a breach of equalities legislation or human rights convention, by definition.

Similarly with local settlements, no formal finding of maladministration has been made, so again failings relating to equalities legislation and Human Rights convention breaches cannot be identified as part of the maladministration if none is found.

That concludes my response and I hope you find the information useful. If you feel I have not dealt properly with your request, you have the right to appeal and, should you wish to do so, I can supply a copy our internal complaints procedure. You also have the right to apply to the Information Commissioner to determine whether your request has been properly dealt with. You should note however that the Commissioner will not consider any complaint where you have not first exhausted our internal complaints process or where there has been undue delay in contacting him. You will be able to obtain further details of the Information Commissioner's role from the website on www.ico.gov.uk.

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Yours sincerely

Hilary Pook (Ms)

Communications and Records Manager

LGO 01 (03/08)